Dog Freindly Hikes
A list of hikes that are dog friendly, but usually require a leash.
Not included are technical hikes or 14,000′ peaks (14er’s) because of the terrain, even though many of them have no dog restrictions.
Naylor, Silver Dollar, and Murray Lake (12,200′)
The trail features three lakes: Naylor Lake (11,378'), Silver Dollar Lake (11,972'), and Murray Lake (12,178'). The trail climbs a bit over 1,000 ft in elevation over the course of 4.1 miles. The trail is a well maintained out and back leaving little room to get lost...
Lost Lake (9,850′), Front Range
Lost Lake is an alpine lake surrounded by the majestic mountains of the Indian Peaks Wilderness. It’s a perfect destination for a day trip. The lake’s crystal-clear waters are a popular spot for fly fishing. Keep an eye out for a glimpse of moose, which are commonly...
Mt Flora (13,146′), Front Range
Located within the James Peak Wilderness area, this hike offers a well established trail to the summit. The trailhead at Berthoud Pass also provides convenient access to the trailhead all year because the pass is plowed in winter. As you ascend, you'll traverse a...
Arapaho Pass (11,950′), Front Range
From the east, access to Arapaho Pass can be found along a rough 2WD road that provides access to the Fouth of July Trailhead. The trail begins in dense forest with wonderful fields of wildflowers blooming in the summer months. For part of the hike to the top of the...
Star Dune (8,617′), Great Sand Dunes N.P.
The Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado is home to the tallest sand dunes in North America, reaching heights of up to 750 feet at Star Dune. Some interesting facts about Star Dune: 1. The Star Dune is the tallest dune in the park, standing at a height of 755...
Black Canyon of the Gunnison N.P. (8,500′)
The Black Canyon of the Gunnison park contains 12 miles (19 km) of the 48-mile (77 km) long Black Canyon of the Gunnison River. The national park contains the deepest and most dramatic section of the canyon. The canyon's name comes from the long shadows, where...
Argentine Pass (13,207′), Front Range
Argentine Pass is the highest named vehicle-accessible pass in Colorado. Vehicle travel is only possible on the Georgetown side of the pass (during the summer months) by a four-wheel drive vehicle with high-clearance. The trail on the Horseshoe Basin side is only...
Rollins Pass (11,671′), Front Range
Rollins Pass is located on the Continental Divide, approximately five miles east of Winter Park, when approaching from the west. The abandoned rail route over the pass was designated a National Register of Historic Places in 1980 because of engineering feats...
Lower Fish Creek Falls (7,420′), Park Range
Lower Fish Creek Falls is a 283' waterfall located about 5 miles to the east of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. There are two trails which provide great views of the falls. First is the Overlook, a 1/4 mile handicapped-friendly accessible trail, which is relatively flat....
Mt Sniktau (13,234′), Front Range
Mount Sniktau sits just east of the Continental Divide on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The summit is located less than a mile south of Interstate 70, and east of the Eisenhower Tunnel. Despite being close to an Interstate and being one of the windiest...
Wager Gulch (12,350′), San Juan Range
The road up Wager Gulch (high-clearance 4-wheel drive vehicle recommended), leads to the remnants of the abandoned mining town of Carson, on the way up to the Continental Divide and beyond. Founded in 1889, Carson reached its peak at the turn of the century when some...
Alpine Loop (12,800′), San Juan Range
The Alpine Loop Backcountry Byway is a rugged 4x4 road that winds through the spectacular scenery of the San Juan Mountains, connecting Lake City, Silverton, and Ouray. The loop traverses passes up to 12,800 feet while showcasing old mines, ghost towns, natural...
Greenhorn Mountain (12,352′), Wet Mountain Range
Greenhorn Mountain is the highest summit of the Wet Mountain range, located on the southern end of the range. Greenhorn Mountain can be seen from Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Trinidad, and also from along Interstate 25 rising over 7,000 feet (2,100 m) above the great...
Music Pass (11,450′), Sangre de Cristo Range
Music Pass is a east/west pass across the southern Sangre de Cristo range connecting the Wet Valley in the east with the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve on the western side. The road gets progressively worse as you near the trailhead, so without a high...
Potato Lake (9,800′), San Juan Range
Spud Lake Trail #661 to Potato Lake is beautiful and short, with minimal elevation gain, making this an extremely popular hike. Passing through aspen glades, it offers excellent views of Engineer Mountain, Grayrock Peak, and Spud Mountain, along with good views of the...
Lily Lake (12,385′), Sangre de Cristo Range
This trail is one of the more beautiful in the state with lots of bang for your buck. The trail starts out at 10,400 feet, hiking in an beautiful valley surrounded by huge mountain scenery, and is virtually flat. So if you don’t want to make the climb up to Lilly...
Pancake Rocks (11,060′), Front Range
Pancake Rocks Trail shares the trailhead used to reach Horsethief Falls for the first .7 miles. The trail climbs trough heavy forest before leveling out near the two trail junctions. At the second junction you can go straight for a .5 mile trip to Horsethief Falls, or...
Mosquito Pass (13,185′), Mosquito Range
Mosquito Pass was built to connect the towns of Alma to the east, with Leadville to the west. It is the highest crossable vehicle mountain pass in the U.S. outside of Alaska. While there are higher vehicle passes, they are all out and back. The trail crosses the...
Stony Pass (12,592′), San Juan Range
Stony Pass Rd crosses the Continental Divide and follows small streams that make up the headwaters of the Rio Grande River. The road was created in 1872 to connect the area’s mining operations in Silverton to the town of Del Norte. The Continental Divide Trail crosses...
Shelf Road (9,494′), Fourmile Canyon
Shelf Road Gold Belt Tour National Scenic Byway is a dirt road passable with a 2WD vehicle in good weather. It follows the old stagecoach route between Cripple Creek and Cañon City built in 1892. It twists along Fourmile Creek, with long bands of limestone towering...
Flat Tops Scenic Byway (10,343′), Flat Tops
Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway (County Road 8), runs through the northern portion of the Flat Tops Wilderness. The Flat Tops is Colorado's second largest Wilderness, spanning a total of 235,214 acres. Part of the White River Plateau, the wilderness has an average...
Trappers Lake (9,627′), Flat Tops
Roughly a mile and a half long and half a mile wide, reaching depths of 180 feet, Trappers Lake is the second largest natural lake in Colorado after Grand Lake. You reach the lake by taking the Flat Tops Scenic Byway from Yampa or Meeker. The area is as wild today as...
Hayden Pass (10,709′), Sangre de Cristo Range
Hayden Pass road crosses the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Villa Grove in the west, and Coaldale to the east. The road is most challenging and scenic when started from Villa Grove, on the southwest side. With grades up to 20%, great views of the San Luis valley...
Fremont Peak (7,273′), Royal Gorge
Fremont Peak is the high point along a narrow ridge of hills rising near the eastern edge of the Royal Gorge's north rim. The desert peak is part of a very small sub-range of mountains called the Gorge Hills. These peaks are relatively low and are covered in desert...
The Crags (10,856′), Front Range
The Crags Trail #664 follows Four Mile Creek through deep forests and lush meadows, ending at a rocky dome with unobstructed views in all directions. At the summit of the windswept dome there are views of the Rampart Range, Pikes Peak Mastif, Catamount Reservoirs, and...
Picket Wire Canyonlands Tracksite (4,403′), Eastern Plains
Picket Wire (Purgatoire) Canyonlands, in the Comanche National Grasslands, is home to the largest dinosaur track site in North America. 150 million years ago this area was part of a large shallow lake and was teaming with Brontosaurs and Allosaurs. As these massive...
Garden of the Gods (6,400′) Front Range
Garden of the Gods is a geologically unique 480 acre park, having one of the most complete and complex exposures of earth's history anywhere in the country. On the outskirts of Colorado Springs, it is popular for hiking, technical rock climbing, biking, and horseback...
South Colony Lakes (12,000′), Sangre de Cristo Range
The South Colony Basin lies in the heart of southern Colorado's Sangre de Cristo Range, home of the South Colony Lakes. Surrounded by Crestone Needle (14,197'), Humboldt Peak (14,064'), and Broken Hand Peak (13,573'), the basin is one of the most beautiful alpine...
Almagre Mountain (12,360′), Front Range
Almagre Mountain (Mt Baldy) is the only other peak, besides Pikes Peak, above treeline when viewed from Colorado Springs. Located in the Pike National Forest just south of Pikes Peak, this hike is rated easy, but getting there can be a challenge. In order to drive to...
Mt Rosa (11,500′), Front Range
Mt Rosa is located in the Pike National Forest just south of Pikes Peak and is the only cone shaped summit in the area. This provides rare unobstructed 360 degree views from it's small but lofty summit, one mile above Colorado Springs. From it's summit you can see...
Mitchell and Blue Lake (11,360′), Front Range
Mitchell and Blue Lake are located in the Brainard Lake Recreation Area, west of Boulder, Colorado. Brainard Lake itself is a small lake at the junction of two major valleys in the east central Indian Peaks Wilderness. The northern of the two valleys holds Mitchell...
Mt Herman (9,104′), Front Range
Mt Herman is the highest point on the Palmer Divide, just west of Monument, Colorado. It lies along the Rampart Range of the Front Range, between Denver and Colorado Springs. The area is popular for hiking and mountain biking, paragliding, and 4x4 trails heading west....
Mt Blue Sky (14,268′), Front Range
Mt Blue Sky can be accessed via the highest paved road in North America, reaching an elevation of 14,138'. The Mt Blue Sky Scenic Byway, maintained by the Forest Service, offers easy access to Colorado’s inspiring high mountain environment. A drive up, and short walk...
High Dune (8,700′), Great Sand Dunes N.P.
The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve contains the tallest sand dunes in North America, rising about 750 feet (230 m) from the floor of the San Luis Valley at the western base of the Sangre de Cristo Range. The dunes cover about 19,000 acres (7,700 ha)....
Zapata Falls (9,250′), Sangre de Cristo Range
This popular short hike to Zapata Falls is located 3 miles south of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, off of Highway 150. Simply driving to the trailhead provides an excellent view of the entire dune field and San Luis Valley. Drive (east) onto a rough...
American Basin to Sloan Lake (12,920′), San Juan Range
The Handies Peak trail to Sloan Lake meanders through American Basin, one of the most scenic basins in the San Juan Mountains. The destination, Sloan Lake, is a high alpine lake above treeline near the base of American Peak in the basin. The trail continues past the...
Devils Head Fire Lookout (9,748′), Front Range
Devils Head Lookout was the last of the seven original Front Range lookout towers in continuous use since the 1800's. It was closed in 2018 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Bill Ellis and his wife operated the lookout over the last 25 years,...
Spruce Mountain (7,635′), Front Range
Spruce Mountain is located on the Palmer Divide, on the eastern fringe of the Front Range. The top of the mesa offers great views of the Palmer Divide, with interesting sandstone formations along the trail. Hiking to the upper loop is a quick climb through shady...